Poisoned Red
by snowxhanyouxqueen
Summary: Preview of a larger work. Sesshomaru visits his parents in the middle of war in search of a tool to save his brother, and lover, from the wolves he had been battling.


**A/N: a bit of a preview as to what I have been plotting for months. It will be a large project, and most things probably will be put aside for it, but I'll be finishing off some other things before it ever gets started.**

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_**Poisoned Red**_

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Had it not been for the years that Sesshomaru had witness, he would not have come to the conclusion to stand before his mother and father in their throne room. Had it not been for the one he had to protect, he would not be here to ask for assistance.

And the great Lord Sesshomaru never asked for anything.

He merely took, but this was not something he could take. No, this was something he had to save, something he had to protect. Hands loose at his sides, the daiyoukai son, the first, the Lord of the western lands, the killing perfection himself, stood before his General, kneeling in respect as he bowed his head. Glancing up, gold eyes burned with the fires of rage, waiting for his father's permission to speak.

The great demon general bowed his head, his empress smirking lips taunting her own son from her perch before him. Sesshomaru bit back a snarl as he stood once again.

"Father, I come with news that the east has fallen to the wolves," He said calmly, not trying to show his fear for that war, trying his hardest to hold back all passion as his father had taught him.

"And has your brother made it out of there alive?" His father asked.

The fool, how could he ask such a thing? Inuyasha had been sent out like some common soldier to fight off their former allies. Watching him leave while he was deployed to the west was something Sesshomaru still hated thinking about. To see his brother, crimson clad and armored, had pulled at his heart. He was not made for these wars. Inuyasha did not deserve it. After all they had to fight together, to be torn away for the sake of winning was something Sesshomaru still hadn't forgiven his father for. The Inu no Taisho was a cruel man when it came to his rule and his battles, though aside from those he had been loving. Loving to both his sons despite their interests and worries.

He had trained Sesshomaru to be the perfect assassin, teaching him the ways of his poison youki, showing him how he could use a whip to kill and to save. His Toxic Flower Claw had been something he had been forced to control from a young age, and every other skill he had learned after that was one that he had discovered himself, or that his father had pounded into his brain through countless hours of training.

Inuyasha on the other hand had been taught the forbidden art of Blood Puppetry. It allowed him to learn his Blades of Blood and Blood of the Puppet, a power only his full demon side could perfect, and something that even the daiyoukai feared in battle. Yet even then, the hanyou was not bred for war. Born of a human mother, he was too mortal to fight these battles, but his father had insisted, he had demanded that they leave their worries behind. It was another lesson, he knew this, but he detested it. No child hanyou should witness war as he had to, and now the news of the fall of his battallion...Sesshomaru feared for the worst.

"Father, Inuyasha has gone missing from the field. His units returned to the western castle early morning the other day and had reported the battle to me. My brother had fought against the leader of the wolf tribes, the grand wolf, and had supposedly fallen to his enemy. His units report that he had been taken to the eastern wolf tribe camp as a prisoner. I intend to rescue him."

"Do you mean to tell me that you plan to protect him, Sesshomaru?"

"He is my brother, and he holds your sword Tetsusaiga. It is as though you expect to leave your blood behind, as if you never cared for the wretched being at all."

"You speak in a manner that suggests you wish to hurt me, my son," Touga sighed, his face hard, "Do you plan to protect him, as you have told me countless times that he is yours to do with as you please. Is this why you are here?"

"I am here for nothing more than the one tool to save his life,"

"Your father would not give you that tool even if the world was to come to an end, Sesshomaru. Surely you have learned that you do not hold the power to wield that sword." His mother piped up, glaring at him as though he were still a pup.

"I am capable of anything and everything. I, Lord Sesshomaru, do not fear the consequences."

"You father didn't fear them either when he brought Izayoi back from the dead to save your brother. He had died that night, and it was only with the meido stone that he was revived for his rule. You, a mere child, do not hold the power he has to wield that sword, the sword he used in his last moments to save them."

"She died anyway, what does it matter anymore? Do you wish for that effort to be for nothing? Do you wish to see Inuyasha dead, mother? As you have most likely wanted since the day he was brought home to us?" Sesshomaru snorted, "You are fools. Hand me Sounga, for the sake of Inuyasha's life."

He drew his sword then, a standard one at that, one he had been given as nothing more than a tool. He could not use it for the battle he would need. He had to slaughter those wolves. He had to slaughter the mutt who had tried to take him from them. The demon would not stand there and let his brother be sold to the wolf tribe leader's son. Inuyasha had already been poisoned by him, he was his, and no one elses.

Standing up, the Inu no Taisho drew his last and only sword, the dragon blade pulsing in his hand before he lunged and struck at his son. Sesshomaru put his own blade up, staggering to hold his balance.

"You are but a child blinded by love in a war that does not acknowledge such human behavior. Inuyasha has always been strong enough to save himself, and he will return. But you insist on standing there like a spoiled child, throwing a tantrum over losing a toy you barely cared for."

"Inuyasha is more than my brother, father," Sesshomaru growled, their blades creaking, "He is my red warrior, he is the river, the drums, and the silk I wear. He will be saved by my hand, and I will save him using the power that you are too afraid to wield."

"Fool, I did not raise you as such a stubborn child. I raised you as a soldier."

"And I became a different man the day the hanyou spoke my name. He is mine, and he has poisoned me red like his robes, and I will bring him back from the brink of slavery!"

Nothing would stand between him and his brother. Nothing would break their bond that they had made years before, years ago under the cherry blossom tree in the yard. The hanyou had took his hand and placed a blossom in it, whispering his name before flicking his nose. The laugh and smile still haunted his dreams, and that night they had vowed to one another. He was his soldier and his tool, and the hanyou was his lord and his moon.

"Inuyasha will not be taken from me, father," Sesshomaru's lip twitched, "I think it's time you learned that you are no longer the one calling the shots for me."

With a swift movement, he had Sounga flying from his father's hands, kicking him hard to send him to the ground. Snatching the dragon blade from the air, he pointed it at his father. Frowning, he sheathed his other blade at his side,

"I now have something I need to protect."


End file.
